The present invention relates in general to twin-bearing type fishing reels and, more particularly, such reels incorporating a unique integral finger rest.
Generally speaking, a twin-bearing type fishing reel attached to a casting handle or the like is manipulated, when it releases a fishing line, through the gripping of a knob located at the back of its mounted position. The winding action of the reel handle attached to the front of the grip requires the exertion of a strong force for maintaining the grip, partly because the fisherman's right and left hands are engaged at different positions and partly because the center of gravity is located at the front side. Therefore, most fishermen hold the casting handle and the reel in their palms and rest their thumbs on the struts, which are arranged forwardly of the spool shaft, so that the casting handle and the reel may be easily operated at the particular angle of elevation.
With this holding position, more specifically, the hand operating the handle of the reel and the hand holding the casting handle and the reel are located substantially in a common position to facilitate operation.
If, however, the thumb is forced to rest on the narrow reel strut, there arises a problem in that such forced position causes pain so that it is difficult to apply the thumb for a extended period of time.
In order to solve this problem, there has been invented a twin-bearing type fishing reel which is formed with a finger rest for resting the thumb between a handle-side outer plate and an opposite-side outer plate.
Since, however, the twin-bearing type fishing reel of the prior art contained an independently constructed finger rest, there arises an assembly problem requiring a number of steps for integrating such rest. Because of the individual, independent construction, a step or gap would be formed between the opposite-side outer plate, acting as an abutting member for the thumb, and the finger rest to raise another problem in that thumb pain is developed when gripping for a reasonable time is required.
In this twin-bearing type fishing reel of the prior art, moreover, both the opposite-side outer plate contacting with the palm and the finger rest, when the reel is gripped together with the fishing rod, are molded of a hard material such as aluminum, another metal or a synthetic resin. As a result, the outer plate and the finger rest prevent hard, unyielding surfaces for the palm and the thumb, and those members are relatively slidable so that the reel has to be strongly gripped in the event the hooked fish is to be landed. This hard grip will cause pain in the palm, contacting the outer plate, and especially to the ball and bulb of the thumb contacting the finger rest. Still worse, the engaged palm and thumb may possibly be caused to swell, and the hand is most apt to be quickly fatigued. These raise other problems caused by the reeling and fishing actions so that the reel cannot be gripped for a long period of time.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems and disadvantages by providing a twin-bearing type fishing reel which requires relatively reduced assembling steps and is capable of freeing the thumb from pain even if the reel is gripped for a long time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a twin-bearing type fishing reel which can provide a soft, comfortable contacting surface when it is gripped, and therefore improve grippability.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a twin-bearing type fishing reel which forms a slip-preventing depression at will in a position fitted to the thumb of a fisherman and is soft and yielding in contact.
Since the finger rest is molded integrally with the opposite-side outer plate of a fishing reel, according to the present invention, it is unnecessary to assemble the finger rest as a single or independent component and thereby effect a reduction in the assembling steps. Since, moreover, neither step nor gap is formed between the opposite-side outer plate and the finger rest, the thumb is not subjected to pain even if the gripped portions are held for long period of time.
According to the present invention, the opposite-side outer plate and the finger rest to be contacted by the palm and the thumb when the reel is gripped are molded of a soft material such as a thermoplastic elastomer. As a result, if it is necessary to apply pressure through the palm and the thumb, the said plate and rest are elastically deformed according to the magnitude of the applied pressure thereby accomodating the palm and thumb so that the reel can be gripped with far less pain and normally resulting fatigue.
Furthermore, the finger rest can be formed with a slip-preventing recess suited to the finger tip merely by resting and pressing the thumb gripping the reel. As a result, the finger rest can be fitted to the size of the hand and the length of the fingers of the fisherman and soften the contact with the fingers so that the grippability of the reel is improved.